1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates a bottle-type plastic container having a container body that is partly recessed inwards to afford a grip region.
2. Description of Related Art
As a bottle-type container for beverages, alcoholic drinks, etc., a relatively large size plastic container is often used, having a capacity of 2,700 cm3, for example, and produced by a biaxial orientation blow molding process or the like.
The body of such container is large and heavy in use, and is thus not always easy to stably hold by a single hand. Therefore, it has been a conventional practice to provide such a container with a separately prepared grip member that is fixedly secured to the body. However, provision of separate grip member is not very suitable solution from the viewpoint of reduction in production steps, cost and material. Furthermore, so-called separated collection of waste materials becomes difficult or time consuming, particularly when the body and the grip member are comprised of mutually different materials and, hence, the grip member has to be removed from the body before disposition.
These problems can be effectively eliminated by a pinch grip-type container including a body that is partly recessed inwards to afford a grip region, as disclosed, for example, in JP-4-33,238Y2 or JP-4-33,239Y2. In this instance, the container body has surface portions that are recessed inwards and opposed to each other to define a grip region therebetween, which is configured so as to be engaged by consumer""s hand. Such an arrangement proved to be highly advantageous in that a plastic container with an integral grip region can be produced efficiently and at low cost, without requiring a separate grip member to be prepared in advance and subsequently connected to the container body.
On the other hand, however, there is a problem in that the pinch grip-type container of a large size tends to deform upon pressure drop in the container body, thereby deteriorating the appearance and commercial value of the goods.
For a bottle-type container of a small size, it is known to provide the container with a deformation absorbing panel in the container body. Thus, one may consider that the deformation absorbing panel can be applied to a container of a large size, in the rear surface portion of the container body, e.g., at the grip region thereof. However, in order to effectively absorb deformation of the container body, the deformation absorbing panel is generally made to have a small thickness. Therefor, provision of the deformation absorbing panel at the grip region of a container of a large size would result in difficulty in preserving the regidity and strength of the grip region and it would be thus difficult to stably bold the container by hand.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved bottle-type plastic container, which eliminates the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and which effectively absorbs deformation of the container body while allowing the container to be held stably by hand.
To this end, according to the present invention, a bottle-type plastic container comprises a container body and an opening at one end of the container body, for allowing liquid contents to be charged into the container and discharged therefrom. The container body has surface portions which are recessed inwards and opposed to each other to define a grip region therebetween. The grip region includes a panel portion for absorbing deformation of the container body upon pressure drop therein. The panel portion has a width as measured in circumferential direction of the container body. The panel portion is provided with at least one circumferential rib having a length that is smaller than the width of the panel portion.
With the above-mentioned arrangement of the bottle-type plastic container according to the present invention, the panel portion in the grip region of the container body serves to effectively absorb deformation of the container body upon pressure drop therein. Yet, the circumferential rib provided for the panel preserves the rigidity and strength of the grip region so that the container can be readily and stably held by hand.
It is preferred that the at least one rib in the panel portion is comprised of a ridge protruding outwards of the panel portion, or of a groove recessed inwards of the panel portion.
The container according to the present invention may have an inner volume within a range of 1,800-4,000 cm3.